


Day One Hundred Ninety-Two || Cooperation

by 365daysofsasuhina



Series: 365 Days of SasuHina 2019 [192]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-12
Updated: 2019-07-12
Packaged: 2020-06-26 22:10:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,748
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19777450
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/365daysofsasuhina/pseuds/365daysofsasuhina
Summary: It's time for a dual mission with team seven and team eight! Will they be able to work together, or will their clashing personalities mean failure?





	Day One Hundred Ninety-Two || Cooperation

Genin missions have been so  _ boring _ lately.

While Sasuke expected there to be  _ some _ learning curve...he wasn’t assuming it would be  _ this _ bad. Dog walking, yard weeding, cat fetching...these aren’t shinobi tasks! Nothing about them utilize what they learned in the Academy, or during the training sessions they’ve had thus far with Kakashi. These are things any civilian could do! Why tasks like these are being afforded to shinobi - even if they  _ are _ genin - is beyond his understanding.

Needless to say, it’s made the little Uchiha irritated. He’s supposed to be gaining experience, learning new jutsu, building up both his knowledge and his strength...and these assignments aren’t cutting it. He’d even dare to call them an insult. He has no time to waste on menial tasks when his brother is out there, still breathing, and far beyond Sasuke’s current skill level. How can he even begin to compete with - let alone kill - his elder brother if all he’s being given to do are stupid chores and pointless exercizes?!

“So, I’ve got a little something different for you three today.”

Meeting as always atop the little bridge that roughly sits in the middle of their homes, the trio of genin look up as Kakashi finally arrives. While Naruto and Sakura take to their usual berating of the man, Sasuke just leans coolly against the railing. There’s no point to it by now...their teacher will never be on time, no matter their fussing.

“So, what’s the mission? Huh? Huh?” Naruto demands, practically dancing around with anticipation. “C’mon, you gotta tell us!”

“Well, it’s another D-rank,” Kakashi begins, pausing as his team all wilt. “...is that a problem?”

“Man, these missions are  _ lame _ ,” the Uzumaki mutters.

“We all have to go through them,” Kakashi assures him, giving his infamous one-eyed smile. “You’ll outgrow them soon enough...but first, you need an introduction to missions and the system before we start sending you on something more...advanced.”

“You’ve been saying that for months,” Sasuke retorts, arms loosely folded over his chest.

“And you’re still not ready, even after all that time.”

Dark eyes narrow, but Sasuke withholds any other quips. It’s just a waste of time.

“Now...barring any more interruptions...we’ve got a two-squadron mission on our hands.”

The genin blink. “...wait, what?” Naruto demands. “Y’mean we gotta team up with more genin?”

“Precisely,” Kakashi chirps. “Today you’ll be working with team eight.” After a pause, he clarifies, “Aburame Shino, Inuzuka Kiba, and Hyūga Hinata. Currently under the tutelage of one Yūhi Kurenai. They’ve been denoted as a bit of a tracker team, what with the kikaichu, ninken, and Byakugan at their disposal. And you three are to be more of the...beef in this little mix.”

“...meaning?” Sasuke asks.

“You and Naruto are pretty heavy hitters, and Sakura is clever. Working with team eight’s abilities to find your target, you’ll then head in to capture it.”

“If it’s another cat, I’m gonna holler!” Naruto...hollers.

“No, not a cat this time,” Kakashi assures him with another smile. “This is a bit more...feisty.”

All three genin furrow brows at that. “...what’s feistier than a cat?” Sakura muses mostly to herself.

“You’ll just have to come find out! We’re to meet your temporary teammates at the gate.”

Exchanging glances, team seven makes to follow as Kakashi about-faces and heads to the main village entrance.

True to his word, Kurenai’s team is already there. “Kakashi,” she greets, hands on her hips.

“Ready to go?”

“Are you going to explain what we’re looking for?” Sakura cuts in, folding her arms with a hint of impatience.

“Yes yes,” Kakashi replies. “You see, we recently had a new batch of messenger hawks start training yesterday! But unfortunately...they weren’t quite  _ tame _ enough, and flew off. It’s up to you six to locate the missing hawks, and  _ safely _ return them to the village aviary.”

“...we’re after birds?” Naruto clarifies, squinting.

“Important birds. Konoha’s message system has to be foolproof,” Kurenai offers. “Important, encoded information is often sent by hawk. If we don’t have enough of them, or those we have aren’t trained properly, we could lose intel to our enemies.”

The implication perks the younger group.

“So, you’ll be working in pairs,” Kakashi goes on. “One member of each team: team eight will do the tracking, and team seven will work on retrieval.”

“How are we supposed to catch them? Especially without harming them?” Sakura inquires with a frown.

“With these,” Kurenai offers, holding up a bag, within which are several weighted nets. “We’ve also got some bait to try to lure them in, but we have to find them first.”

“That won’t be a problem!” Kiba insists, dashing a thumb at his nose with a grin. “Team eight’s the best trackers from our class!”

“We will do our best,” is Shino’s contribution, Hinata nodding.

“All right...Sakura, you’ll be with Kiba. Naruto, you’re with Shino. And Sasuke, you’ll team up with Hinata. Ready?”

Arming themselves with nets and bait, the pairs scatter.

Sasuke and Hinata head north along the wall, Hinata quickly activating her Byakugan and scanning their surroundings.

He gives her a glance. They very rarely speak, so...in all honesty, he really doesn’t know her that well. Sasuke kept to himself and his studies in the Academy, and she was such a wallflower he often forgot she existed. But her being a Hyūga is interesting, given their supposed shared roots. “...see anything?”

“Not, um...not yet,” she reports, still gazing ahead.

“...how are we supposed to tell them from wild hawks?”

“Kurenai-sensei said they have little metal bands around their left legs. The aviary reported five missing birds last night.”

“And you can see those bands?”

A nod. “Yes. At least...so long as it’s within my range. Right now, I can see about f-fifty meters in any direction.”

Dark brows lift a hair. “...and the Byakugan...it can see  _ through  _ things, right?”

“Yes, most things. Some jutsu can - can warp or distort it. But I haven’t...encountered any of those yet.”

Huh...color him impressed.

They wander for about twenty minutes before Hinata holds out a hand, squinting. “...there. T-twenty meters, ten o’clock.”

He can’t see it, but...Sasuke trusts her. “All right...I’ll set some bait, see if we can lure it out.” A potent dead rat is laid among some leaf litter on the forest floor, Sasuke hiding up in a tree. Hinata takes a nearby branch, watching.

“...here it comes!” she whispers.

With a flutter, the hawk lands nearby, tempted by the smell. Waddling a few paces with outstretched wings, it makes to inspect the carcass.

Timing a leap, Sasuke closes much of the distance as he can before the bird reacts, tossing the net the rest of the way. With weighted edges quickly dragging it down, it gives a fierce cry, fighting against the fibers with sharp talons.

Both genin stand nearby. “Should...should we try to pick it up…?” Hinata asks, stance a bit wary. “I’m not sure that would be, um...that would be safe.”

“I think I can get it.” Approaching carefully, Sasuke ignores the bird’s struggling, managing to get a careful grip on its legs, cradling the rest in his arms. “There…”

“Wow, good job!”

There’s a small warmth at the praise, but Sasuke keeps his expression neutral. “Well...guess we better take it back to free up the net.”

Kakashi and Kurenai look up as they make their way back. “Well well, good job you two!” Kurenai praises.

“Has anyone else found a hawk yet?”

“Not yet,” Kakashi confirms.

“What should we do with this one…?”

Answering with action, Kakashi accepts the upset avian, putting a blinding cap over its eyes and a tether around its legs. It quickly calms, occasionally fluttering and giving a soft rasp.

“Well, back to it!” he then chirps.

They manage to find one more, Kiba and Sakura bringing in three. Naruto and Shino...find none.

“Man, that was  _ totally _ lame!” Naruto complains, arms folded as the two sensei handle the birds while they trek to the aviary. “How were we supposed to do this?”

Shino adjusts his glasses. “I tracked them just fine...but you were too loud and scared them off…”

“Sounds like Naruto all right,” Sakura agrees with a sigh.

The aviary team gratefully accepts the returned messengers, assuring the teams they’ll be paid well.

“So, that was a pretty good exercise in cooperation between squads,” Kakashi then observes, hands in his pockets. “I think you guys make a pretty good combined team!”

Sakura and Kiba beam, while Shino and Naruto give cool side eye looks. Glancing to Hinata, Sasuke manages a hint of a smile, which she returns.

“Well, that’s all for today. You all head home, and we’ll turn in the reports,” Kurenai offers. “We’ll be sure to get you your pay shares tomorrow morning.”

With that, the group disperses, Sasuke deciding to get a few hours of training in before making his way home.

“Um…”

Catching Hinata’s voice, he pauses as the rest leave them behind. Posture shy as always, Hinata ducks her head. “It...it was nice working with you today, Sasuke-kun.”

Eyebrows lift just a hair. “...yeah. You too. Maybe we’ll get to do that again sometime. Nice change of pace from yard work…”

To his surprise, she giggles into a hand. “You guys do that sort of thing too?”

“Ugh, yeah...all the time.”

“Have you, um...have you had to catch Tora?”

“So many times, I’ve lost count.”

“Yeah, us too! I hope we get more missions like this one...o-or at least, you know...something different. It can get a little...f-frustrating. But I guess genin get stuck with all the b-boring jobs no one else wants, huh?”

“Seems that way.”

...silence blooms.

“Well, um...I guess I’ll see you around?”

“Yeah, probably. Later, Hyūga.”

Hinata gives a short, bobbing bow as the pair part ways. Hands in his pockets, Sasuke mulls the mission over. It  _ was _ a nice change of pace. Hopefully Kakashi finds more like it. And while he didn’t get to see how Shino or Kiba worked, Hinata did really well. He’ll admit...he’s a bit curious about the Byakugan now. Maybe they can spar sometime so he can learn more about how it works...seeing through objects would be exceedingly handy.

But, for now...time to do a little training on his own, then head home for the day.

**Author's Note:**

> Tiiired...and headache...blegh lol
> 
> Anywayyy, just some random genin shenanigans. Been having a lot of muse for this era in RP, so...I thought it'd work well for a drabble entry! I really wish these teams interacted more in canon...but, I guess that's what fics like this are for!
> 
> But yeah, I'm gonna go crawl into bed! Thanks for reading n_n


End file.
